Sepik languages

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The Sepik languages are a proposed family of some 50 Papuan languages spoken in the Sepik river basin of northern Papua New Guinea. The languages tend to have simple phonologies, with few consonants or vowels and usually no tones.

The best known Sepik language is Iatmül. The most populous are Iatmül's fellow Ndu languages Abelam and Boiken, with about 35 000 speakers apiece.

The Sepik languages, like their Ramu neighbors, appear to have three-vowel systems, /ɨ ə a/, that distinguish only vowel height. Phonetic [i e o u] are a result of palatal and labial assimilation to adjacent consonants. It is suspected that the Ndu languages may reduce this to a two-vowel system, with /ɨ/ epenthetic.

Contents

[edit] Classification

The classification used here is that of Malcolm Ross. It consists of two branches of Laycock's Sepik-Ramu proposal, the Sepik subphylum and Leonhard Schultze stock. The latter has been tentatively broken up by Ross into its constituent families, Walio and Papi, with Papi reassigned to the Sepik Hill branch of Sepik.

According to Ross, the most promising external relationship is not with Ramu but rather with the Torricelli family.

The small families listed in boldface are clearly valid units. The overall family is based on similar pronoun paradigms, but its internal structure is subject to revision.

  • Walio family: Walio, Pei, Yawiyo, Tuwari
  • Biksi family: Kimki, Yetfa (Biksi)
  • Upper Sepik branch
  • Ram family: Karawa, Pouye (Bouye), Autu
  • Tama family: Ayi, Pasi, Pahi, Mehek, Yessan-Mayo
  • Yellow River family: Namia (Namie), Ak, Awun
  • Middle Sepik branch
    • Yerakai isolate
    • Nukuma family: Kwoma, Kwanga, Seim
    • Ndu family: Iatmul, Ngala, Manambu, Kaunga, Abelam (Ambulas), Boiken, Sawos, Kwasengen
  • Sepik Hill branch
    • Sanio family: Sanio, Paka, Gabiano, Piame, Bikaru, Hewa
    • Bahinemo family: Bitara, Bahinemo, Mari, Bisis, Watakataui, Kapriman, Sumariup
    • Alamblak family: Kaningara, Alamblak
    •  ? Papi family: Papi, Suarmin

[edit] Pronouns

The pronouns Ross reconstructs for proto-Sepik are:

I *wan we two *na-nd, *na-p we *na-m
thou (M) *mɨ-n you two *kwə-p you *kwə-m
thou (F) *yɨ-n, *nyɨ-n
he *ətə-d, *də they two *ətə-p, *tɨ-p they *ətə-m, *tɨ-m
she *ətə-t, *tɨ

Note the similarities of the dual and plural suffixes with those of the Torricelli languages.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Dye, Wayne; Patricia Townsend; William Townsend (1969). "The Sepik Hill languages: a preliminary report". Oceania 34: 146–156. ISSN 0029-8077. OCLC 1761006. 
  • Foley, William A. (1986). The Papuan Languages of New Guinea. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521286212. OCLC 13004531. 
  • Foley, William A. (2005). "Linguistic prehistory in the Sepik-Ramu basin", in Andrew Pawley, Robert Attenborough, Robin Hide, Jack Golson, eds.: Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, pp. 109–144. ISBN 0858835622. OCLC 67292782. 
  • Laycock, Donald C. (1965). The Ndu language family (Sepik District, New Guinea). Canberra: Australian National University. OCLC 810186. 
  • Laycock, Donald C. (1973). Sepik languages: checklist and preliminary classification. Canberra: Dept. of Linguistcs, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University. ISBN 9780858830844. OCLC 5027628. 
  • Laycock, Donald C.; John Z'graggen (1975). "The Sepik-Ramu phylum", in Stephen A. Wurm, ed.: Papuan languages and the New Guinea linguistic scene: New Guinea area languages and language study 1. Canberra: Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, pp. 731-763. OCLC 37096514. 
  • Ross, Malcolm (2005). "Pronouns as a preliminary diagnostic for grouping Papuan languages", in Andrew Pawley, Robert Attenborough, Robin Hide, Jack Golson, eds.: Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, pp. 15-66. ISBN 0858835622. OCLC 67292782. 
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